


In The Making Of Our Son

by D8ONO



Series: Beneath [4]
Category: Fate/Apocrypha, Fate/Grand Order, Fate/stay night & Related Fandoms
Genre: Alpha!Arjuna, Alpha/Beta/Omega Dynamics, Alpha/Omega, Alternate Universe - Vampire, Fluff, M/M, Omega Verse, Omega!Karna, Pregnancy
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-10-27
Updated: 2018-11-01
Packaged: 2019-08-08 06:43:59
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 12
Words: 18,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16424399
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/D8ONO/pseuds/D8ONO
Summary: Title says everything.Progress of Omega!Karna when he was with a baby and Arjuna was the happy husband. Vampire couple expecting their son.





	1. It’ll leak

The heat lasted for three days. In those three days, Arjuna had thrusted who knows how much of his seeds into his mate. But it was a lot. A lot. Because Karna could feel it. He was laying on his back, Arjuna’s hand was holding his waist as he moved inside. Karna’s stomach was bloated a bit and he felt heavy. 

Karna closed his eyes as Arjuna thrusted some more inside and let out seeds once again. That was the last one. Arjuna chuckled and Karna looked to his mate. Arjuna seemed so happy and satisfied. Sex on heat was amazing. Karna couldn’t help but smile. Arjuna’s expression was fun to watch.

Hot bodies were still connected when Arjuna kissed Karna. Karna put his hand on that dark hair. Their kiss wasn’t a passionate, though an intimate one. They parted and stared into each other’s eyes. Then they sticked their forehead together for seconds. After that, he pulled out. Some of the cum leaked as he pulled.

Arjuna looked down and surely their futon matress would need a laundry. But first, they need a bath. Because they were too busy in their baby making fun. “Let’s take a bath.” Arjuna said as he got up. He went to grab Karna his clothes, planning to take the bath together.

But Karna wasn’t getting up. He did sat up for a brief moment and then he quickly laid down again. He rolled his body and laid on his stomach now. 

Arjuna looked at Karna, finding his behavior was weird. “What’s wrong...? Did it hurt?” Arjuna asked and Karna raised his head, looking back with his flat default face.

“No,” Karna replied as he raised his brows. “If I move now...” a pause and then blush creeped on his cheeks. “It’ll leak out...” 

They were serious about wanting a baby. It was part of Arjuna’s wanting to tie Karna down. Even though marking him was enough, he wanted more. Karna was more than happy to comply with that wishes. A family with Arjuna sounded perfect.

Karna buried his face onto his arms. “I’ll stay like this for a while.” He said as the blush reached his nape.

“I see,” Arjuna smiled and blushed at Karna’s words. Happy that Karna was looking forward to have a child. It was mix of embrassment and proud feeling. “Do you need anything?”

“I’m good.” Karna replied as he peeked from his arm. “Can you please feed the cats?” 

Arjuna chuckled. “I understand,” he answered and he grabbed on the blanket that got kicked away when they started their fun. He put it on Karna’s back and kissed Karna’s temple. “I’ll bring you water.” He said and Karna nodded with a smile.

Arjuna walked to the kitchen and filled a glass of water. Then he picked the bag he had with him when he came home. It was the manga he bought for Karna. The latest release. He returned to the room and put the two item next to Karna. “I’ll go take a shower.” He said after that. Karna thanked him and the he drank the water.

Arjuna went for a quick shower and after he finished, he go feed the cats. As soon as Arjuna opened the door, the cats meowed and ran to him. Food time! One, two, three, four, five, six... seven cats!? Arjuna was sure it was just two cats last week. The cats were summoning its friends. Well, Karna liked cats and his only friends here were cats. Arjuna hoped his house wouldn’t end up as cat nest.

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	2. Chapter 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This fic is just about Karna’s daily life before nitya was born. Nothing special. Might as well be boring.

Arjuna entered the room to grab his jacket. He looked at Karna who was still laying on his stomach on the futon matress. “I’ll go out for a while,” he said as he wear the jacket. “I’ll be back by night.”

“Ah,” Karna looked behind and nodded. “Be careful.” He watched as Arjuna exited the room. Karna’s ears followed him, listening too his steps until he went far enough that Karna lost him.

Karna stayed still for almost one hour. He had re-read his manga three times. Analyzing the chapters and admiring the very neat art. Karna couldn’t help but to praise the dedication poured into the drawing. Even the rocks got details. 

He rolled once and felt it was okay now. He sat up and it didn’t leak anymore. He got up and picked his shirt. He wore it and walked out of the room. No pants. He didn’t like to wear pants if he hadn’t cleaned up yet. It felt weird. 

Karna went to the living room put the manga he had finished to the bookshelf. Lining with the previous volumes. It had been a year and a few months they had lived here, so he had more than a few volumes.

Then, he went for a bath. The water was warm and nice. Karna liked bath so much. When he was younger, he would went to the pond for one. He would float around as he watched the starry sky. It was cold but he was used to it. But since he lived here, he got warm bath everyday. 

Karna closed his eyes as he relaxed himself in the water. He squeezed his whole body into the water with only his face on the surface. He went a bit lower to warm his cheeks. It felt very nice. Karna let out a pleasant sigh.

He stayed in the tub until the water become lukewarm. It was the time to go out.

Karna returned to the bedroom. He dressed up and looked at the stained futon. He looked at the very stained sheet. He took off the sheets and look at the matress. It was stained to the matress. 

First to do, wash the sheets. He took the sheets to the backyard. He filled the buckets with water from the tap and he started washing manually with his hands with the detergent. He went to the bathroom to drain the washing water, because detergent water could damage the grass around. He washed the sheets a few times until it smelled clean. Because earlier, he could smell the sweat, semen, and little blood from it. Because they kind of bite each other on the process, for fun. After washing, he hanged the sheets under the sun. 

Sheets were done, now the mattress. Washing the mattress would a bit tricky. But Karna had the strength to wash matress with his hands. Their matress was a foam one so he could wash it.

He remembered, Arjuna had wet his bed once. The little boy was too afraid to ask for the toilet because be Karna was too intimidating. He went to sleep with full bladder and end up wetting the bed. When the morning came and Karna saw the stain and Arjuna froze in fear. He almost cried because Karna’s scary eyes stared at him. But what Karna thought was something entirely different. He was concerned if something was wrong with Arjuna. Karna couldn’t wash that matress so he used up the vinegar and baking soda recipe. 

He hung the matress after he was done. Now would do other the other chores. He could do the laundry but there weren’t any space left at the hanger. So he swept and mopped the floor instead. He hadn’t been cleaning for three days. He could feel the dust under his feet. Cleaning the house was fun when he had nothing else to do and without Arjuna around, it was even more lonely.

But thankfully Karna had his cat friends. He sat at the porch hopefully the cats would come and play. But food time had passed and they had been fed. No cats were there. No cats to touch. No cats... Karna felt a bit disappointment in his heart. 

If there weren’t any cats to touch, he would do something else. Cleaning the bathroom. Toothbrush was very usefull for the corners. 

Pretty much everything had been cleaned and Karna didn’t know what to do next. He spent five hours cleaning and it was only five in the evening. He went to the living room and and laid there looking at the ceiling. Changing positions several times, walk around the house for no reason. Just waiting until the night.

Karna could have went out and explored the forest. He liked nature and he did it once. When he returned home, Arjuna wasn’t that pleased. He got scolded not to wander alone. Since then, Karna never left the house.


	3. Chapter 3

Ever since that day, Arjuna put his nose on Karna’s body a few times a day. He constantly checked for changes from Karna’s smell. It didn’t came out any different for quite some time.

Arjuna brushed his nose on Karna’s hair as he hugged him. It smelled just like normal. _Maybe it did not worked?_ Arjuna didn’t exactly how soon the smell would appear, but he had been doing this for almost two weeks. He looked at Karna with an expression of mixed disappointment and confusion. He also sighed lighty at the end. 

“There’s next time.” Karna said as he tried to cheer his mate. Sure, it was a disappointment that they didn’t manage to conceive. But it couldn’t be helped. They could wait for another six or seven years for the next heat to come. Sometimes more than that. Omegas only could get pregnant in the span of few days in their heat.

Arjuna was impatient. He wanted Karna to had his child as soon as he could. Maybe it was instinct’s work, but that was what Arjuna felt. But if they failed, they failed. Arjuna could only nod. “It can’t be helped.” He said as he smiled a little. Still, he was clearly disappointed. 

Karna was also down. He frowned as he closed his eyes. There weren’t any changes in his body. He was still normally functioning. And Arjuna had confirmed with his nose. “Sorry.” Karna apologized. He hoped Arjuna wouldn’t be discouraged from this.

Arjuna put his hand on Karna’s head and ruffled on his hair. “I’m okay,” he said and snorted lightly. “You seemed more down than me.” It was the truth. Karna, ever since he was freed, he wanted to start a family as quickly as possible. Maybe because he felt himself being worthless after all had happened. 

“You’re right,” Karna didn’t deny. He gave a sad smile and nodded. Then he buried his face on Arjuna’s shoulder. He rubbed Karna’s back to soothe him. 

That day went like usual. They were spending time together. At least Arjuna wasn’t going out that day. Arjuna was doing his thing in his computer again. Karna looked at the moving graph and he didn’t understand anything at all. 

Arjuna was a smart man. He could do plan things and he was strong. Truly a perfect dream husband of many. Sometimes Karna wondered if he was even good enough for Arjuna. Because he felt he wasn’t smart or useful enough. He wasn’t that attractive as well. All of sudden, he thought of an idea. “Arjuna, can you teach me what you’re doing now?”

Arjuna was sitting at their living room, at the short and round coffee table. He eyed Karna in face full of doubt. “I don’t think you can manage this...” No way Karna could handle this. Plus, Arjuna wouldn’t let him. He didn’t like the idea of Karna going online. This Karna who was clueless of the world was Arjuna’s doings. And he want to keep it this way.

“I can try.” Karna said, trying to add more assurance. But it failed.

“No,” Arjuna glanced back to his screen. “You can’t do this.”

There was no need to press the matter if Arjuna had said so. So Karna nodded. “I understand,” he said as he looked to four mobile phones next to the computer. “How about these?”

Arjuna looked to Karna’s face, and went down to what he looked at. “No, you can’t touch these,” Arjuna denied. He didn’t know why Karna was suddenly interested with his stuff. But the phones were for his secret business, and he didn’t want Karna to had anything to do with it. “Why sudden interest? You never asked anything about this before.”

“I want to be useful for you, if there’s anything I can do, please tell me.” His face was still flat as ever, but his eyes showed determination.

“You’re fine the way you are now,” Arjuna said as he eyed Karna weirdly. He shut down his laptop and faced Karna. _Maybe Karna felt bad because we didn’t manage to conceive?_ “I love you as you are.” Arjuna said proudly with a smile. His hands touched Karna’s cheek.

Karna touched that hand with his as he felt the warmth on his cheek. He closed his eyes enjoy the tenderness of the hand that had nursed him back to health. “I just want to help you.” 

Arjuna snorted lighty. “You’re already enough help just by staying with me.” He said as he smiled.

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Arjuna had stopped his constantly smelling Karna after that. They both had believed they didn’t got the baby. But Arjuna stayed in the house with him for another week before he suddenly annouced he would be gone for a few days, four at most. “Sorry, I’ll come home as soon as I can.” He said to Karna who was seeing him off the doors.

Arjuna had gone out many times, for necessity trips a few hours. For the mystery trips that Arjuna never wanted to tell Karna, longer, but it was never passed two days. “Why so long?” Karna asked as he looked to Arjuna in concern. 

“Well, it’s urgent thing,” Arjuna tried to keep it as vague as ever. Actually, he had been a cleaner for Agravain. Agravain needed a good cleaner and Arjuna found the deal useful for him. It was distasteful because this made Arjuna indirectly working for Gilgamesh. But he had decided that their current lifestyle was more important than his grudge. “Sorry, I can’t tell you more.”

Karna wasn’t that pleased, but if Arjuna said so. Whatever it was, Arjuna had a valid reason to keep it a secret for Karna. And Karna accepted that. “I understand,” he said and nodded. “Be careful.”

“Thank you,” Arjuna thanked and kissed his mate on temple before he closed the door and left. He didn’t return for more than the promised days. 

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Karna looked at the door in silence, as he rested his head on the table. He was waiting for Arjuna’s return. It wasn’t needed to look at the door, he could just use his ears. He could hear from meters away if Arjuna had returned. But he stared at door as a form of hope.

Karna was getting lonely. A full week without Arjuna, this was the first time. And without Arjuna, Karna had no one to communicate with. He was starting to get lonely. The supply was going down as well. If Arjuna really didn’t return by next few days. Karna would have to leave on his own. Because he would need to consume. 

Karna had one bottle of blood left, it was enough for two days only. Well, just in case if Arjuna didn’t return soon, Karna would consume this one slowly. Stretching it up to four days if he took it carefully.

But even after five days, Arjuna didn’t return. Arjuna had been gone for total of twelve days. Karna went outside and the cats came running to him. He knelt down and touched the back of the black cat. “Sorry,” He said to the cats. The cats kept meowing, demanding food. “I don’t have anything to feed you today.” 

Karna touched enough and he felt bad for the cats as they kept meowing. He really had nothing to feed them and himself. Karna bit his own hand and drank his own blood for comfort as soon as he went inside. It really provided nothing but brief comfort, in fact, biting himself could be a bad thing. But Karna was getting hungry.

He wasn’t in mood to do anything. To be honest, Karna had re-read his mangas so many times he had started to get bored with them.

Karna laid his back on the ground. He used the cushion as pillow. He didn’t want to go to the bedrrom because he wanted to wait more. Karna went to sleep as he waited.

Karna woke up at 10 at night. The room was dark because he didn’t turn on the lamp, it wasn’t a problem. Nine hours. He hadn’t been sleeping for this long. Sure, by not consuming enough, he was tired. But still, only ill vampires sleep this much. But even after sleeping for so long, Karna still felt so tired.

His throat was burning. He went running to the kitchen and drank some water. It wasn’t enough. Second glass, third glass, fourth glass. Of course it wasn’t enough. He needed blood, not water.

Karna bit his fingers and tasted the sweetness of himself. But this won’t help. The hunger was still right there. 

He returned to the living room. He stared at the door, this time, not to wait. Karna was thinking about leaving. _The should be some human a few kilometers from here._ He was shocked at his own thoughts. He was just thinking about attacking humans. Karna faced the wall, and hit his own head there. Hard enough to cause little cracks on it. 

Thanks to the hit, Karna felt a dizzy. He had some blood on his head. He laid down once again. He went for another sleep. Attacking humans was just unacceptable for him. 

Starving vampires could lose their sanity, and that was the furthest thing Karna would want to happen to him. But he used to starve himself for days and he could still hold his mind. _Did I got used to this lifestyle too much?_ He could only hope Arjuna to return soon.

Karna was woken up by the chirps of birds and the meows outside. Meant it was eleven at the morning. He slept straight for another half of day. The light were coming in from the window and that light hurt his eyes. He rolled and now laying on his back. He sank his fangs into his hand, drinking his own blood fast. He was just hungry. And this was getting nowhere.

 _I want to get out. But I had promised Arjuna not to leave. But will Arjuna even return?_ Karna’s senses was compromised. Eaten by his hunger. _Humans are right over there. No, I can’t! Should I hit my head again?_

Karna stopped sucking at his wound and he realized something. The bitemark on his hand wasn’t healing. Ah, he finally realized it. Karna smiled a bit. But the fear was way bigger than the happiness. _Please come home soon..._ The meows intensified, Karna could only apologize again in silence as he laid there, trying hold himself from going to the humans.

Karna closed his eyes again, trying to put himself to sleep. He didn’t want to hit his head anymore, but staying still like this was so hard. But that was what he would do. Simply waiting.

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Arjuna had messed up pretty badly this time. No, he had eliminated his target. It was easy and quick. But he got tailed. Somehow, Gawain had realized his movement. Not that he knew it was Arjuna. But Gawain was chasing him. 

Gawain was a good tracker. Arjuna needed so many detours to completely lost him. He couldn’t just went home straightly because that would led Gawain there. It was two weeks of running around and he was sure Karna would be hungry by now.

Arjuna returned at the midnight after two weeks. He ran home and opened the doors. Karna was right there, but he didn’t say any words welcome. He instantly jumped on Arjuna and attacked him. Biting him over his leather coat. The coat was thick, and Karna was biting him so hard that it passed the coat. “Karna!?” Arjuna was shocked with the attack.

Karna was on brink of his sanity. But when Karna tasted Arjuna’s blood in his mouth, his senses returned and he walked back slowly as he covered his face with his hand. “I’m...sorry.” He apologized as he tried to calm himself. His breath was imminient and his heartbeat was so fast.

Arjuna had never seen Karna lost control. Even when he was awfully starved, he always kept his sanity in check. Karna’s hands were filled with bitemarks. They weren’t closing. Then the distinct smell hit Arjuna’s nose. “Karna, you...”

Karna peeked from his fingers. His eyes looked very bloodlusted. He didn’t reply to Arjuna, he was already putting all he had just to stay sane.

Arjuna pushed the door closed. He took off his coat and he walked to Karna. Arjuna got bitten almost instantly. The bite wasn’t the usual gentle one, this one was pure hunger. Arjuna stroked Karna’s head as he let him drank. “Sorry for making you wait for so long.”

Karna sure was taking his time sucking. He sucked a lot. Arjuna had to personally stop him. “Karna, please stop now,” Arjuna said but Karna didn’t stop. “Karna!” Arjuna had to push him away or else he could die from draining.

Karna looked at Arjuna with shocked eyes. He could have killed Arjuna there. “Sorry,” Karna said as he frowned. His expression was pained. “Sorry.” He said it again. 

Arjuna waited a few minutes for Karna to calm down. After he was sure that Karna wouldn’t attack him again, Arjuna moved closed to his mate and pulled him into his embrace. He sticked his nose closely to that pale skin. Arjuna could smell the signs very well. 

He picked Karna with his arms and spun twice. He was laughing cheerfully even though a moment ago he almost got sucked dry. Karna was still in the shock. He watched Arjuna in confusion. “Arjuna..?” Karna felt utmost guilt for what he just did.

“It’s fine,” Arjuna said as he patted Karna’s head. “I am okay.” He said to add some assurement.

Karna nodded slowly with his eyes closed. “I’m sorry.” He said. His brows were still upset. “...welcome back.”

“I’m back.” Arjuna said and then he knelt down. He put his ear on Karna’s belly. Arjuna smiled proudly as he listened. _Ah, there is it. That’s the heartbeat._


	4. Chapter 4

Arjuna was quite surprised that day. A good surprise and a bad surprise. One was of course because he picked the signs and that meant they would be expecting. 

The other one, well, Arjuna was looking at the cracks at the wall. “What did you do?” He asked as he stood right at the wall, Karna was behind him. With the lights on, the cracks was so clear.

“Sorry,” Karna apologized and closed his eyes. “I hit my head there and I broke the walls, sorry,” He said sorry again. He hoped Arjuna wouldn’t be mad with the property damage. “I’ll fix it if you have the materials.”

Arjuna narrowed his eyes as he stared at Karna in complex face. _I don’t really care about the walls, I am more concerned about your head._ “Is your head okay?” Arjuna asked and sighed. He had made mental notes not to leave Karna so long anymore. Especially now, he would need extra attention. Just to be safe.

“Ah,” Karna nodded flatly. “No problem.”

Arjuna didn’t trust that. Yes, Karna’s head was fine. Arjuna had touched it and it wasn’t injuried or anything. But something inside might had gone wrong in his not-home period. “Don’t do this again.”

“Understood.” Karna replied ala soldier-like.

Arjuna pressed his own forehead. _This is my own mistake._ He sighed again. Arjuna really cursed the damned tracker now. He could have been back quickly if he wasn’t tailed. And Karna wouldn’t hit his own head at the wall. _Karna must be really holding back._ From going out. Arjuna knew Karna’s train of thought.

Arjuna looked down to his own shirt. It was stained with blood. Plus there was holes from the first violent bite. He went to his coat and spreaded it to see, of course, there were the same holes. He sighed again.

Karna felt so bad for ruining so many things in such short time. Being out of control was so bad. “Sorry,” he apologized again and frowned. “Sorry,” He was really sorry. “I’ll try to fix that too.”

“It’s okay,” Arjuna said as he put down the coat. He also took off his shirt. “Are you still hungry?”

“I’m fine,” Karna said as he shook his head a little. He was still kind of a bit hungry, if he was given more, he would want that. But he could ignore that. It would be bad if he feed on Arjuna more.

Arjuna nodded after he looked at Karna for a few seconds. “Let’s take a bath,” he said and he pulled Karna’s hand. 

Karna’s lips widened into a smile. He really liked a bath together.

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Arjuna grabbed all the empty, cleaned bottles and loaded them into his car. When he go out for supplies, he would drive. If if was for his business, he would go with his legs. Reasons. 

Karna watched as Arjuna closed the trunk door. He didn’t really want Arjuna to leave again after that two weeks, but as Arjuna had said, they really need to restock their supply. “Is there anything else you need, aside from the catfeed?” Arjuna asked as he glanced to Karna before he enter the car.

“I’m good,” Karna forced a smiled. “Be careful.” 

“Ah, I’ll get going then.” Arjuna said as he looked at his sent-off. Karna would be always there to send him off, but he wasn’t alone. There were cats there. Two of them. Maybe because they hadn’t been feed for two days, most of them left, but there still two sticking around. 

He left and returned four hours later. 

The first thing Karna did was, not to consume, but to fill the bowl with cat feed and went to the cats. The cats meowed at him so loudly as he brought them their food. Karna was smiling so happy as he watched his little friends ate. Today was only two, who knows how many would return tomorrow. Cats could summon their friends. 

_Why is Karna prioritizing the cats!?_

But at least Karna was happy. And Arjuna loved that smile. Arjuna could watch that expression all day.

Arjuna went inside to save their blood stock. He knelt and opened the counter cupboard at the kicthen. It was another small fridge down there. They saved their stocks here. There was another one on top of the counter. But it was for show. Mainly, it was filled with water and drinks, for cases.

Then, he took out the two volumes of manga he bought earlier and sorted it in the shelf. Karna would read them later.

Arjuna thought everything was good. But when he went outside again to check Karna. He saw more cats. Another one. Another one. And Another one. More stray cats had arrived to join to meal. Karna ran inside for a while, passing Arjuna and he grab another bowl of catfeed and went back to the cats. He had totally turned into the cat slave.

The instense meowings were scary for Arjuna. There were twenty-one cats when he counted. _Twenty-one cats!?_ Some of them climbed to Karna after they were done eating. 

One by one, the climbed to Karna. One was standing on top of his head, one his shoulder, one was hanging as he clawed into Karna’s back. Two were on his thigh. Karna was holding one in his hands as well.

Arjuna’s house was infested with feral cats. _How can I stop this!?_ “Karna...” Arjuna called and his mate looked to him. He was covered with cats.

“What?” Karna asked with a smile on his face. He really liked the cats around him. “Do you want to touch them as well?”

 _No. That’s the last thing I want to do!!_ “No, just thinking,” Arjuna faked a cough. “Maybe you shouldn’t feed them everyday,” he suggested as he watched the two more cats climbed to his mate. This problem was getting out of hand. “Maybe once every two days?”

“Why?” Karna asked as he dropped the smile. And Arjuna felt so bad. He just made Karna dropped his good mood after days. When he came home, Karna’s mood was bad. He had just gotten better because of the cats, but Arjuna took it down as well.

“If you keep doing this, more cats will come,” Arjuna narrowed his eyes as he looked at the cats with disdain. “That will attract people’s attention.” This one was just a made-up lie so that Karna would agree with him. 

Karna didn’t answer instantly. He looked at the cat in his hands. It meowed. And then he looked to the cats on the ground. Then he looked back to Arjuna. “I understand,” Karna nodded.

Then he glanced back to the cats. “Sorry,” Karna apologized to the cats. “I’ll feed you two days once from now on.” He said as he talked directly to the cat in his hands. And the cat moewed back.

Arjuna had just witnessed Karna talking with cats. _Is this because I left him for too long?_

The day was like usual, Karna did the chores. He swept and mopped the floor. He washed the laundry and hung them. House wife had been a proper term for him for a while now. The other one was cat slave.


	5. Chapter 5

Vampire Omegas’ pregnancy full term was 62 months. The progress were much like humans, only a lot more slower. Humans’ one month was roughly vampires’ seven months. Though it wasn’t exactly right on that number. But the differences weren’t that much.

Karna was about nine months. _If Karna is a human, then he should be giving birth by now. Wait, he couldn’t even get pregnant if he’s a human._ Arjuna scartches his hair. His normal had been a bit weird ever since he was adopted by the vampire. Sometimes Arjuna would forgot that Karna was the unique one.

Arjuna was writing on his notebook. Here, he wrote everything daily about Karna’s progress. Starting from his sleeping hours, feeding time, his activities schedule, his moods, and many more. Arjuna even made a spreadsheet for it. Being systematic was Arjuna’s thing.

Nothing much changed for Karna’s body. His stomach hadn’t show anything yet. He would still continue his daily activities and read his mangas. There were some differences. Like his daily intake was getting more. It was partly Arjuna making him take more. But still at normal amount. It was Karna who never actually drank a lot at the first place. No wonder he was so skinny.

Other than that, he would get tired more quickly. Usually he could do so many things and still could do more. Now he would take a short nap of one to two hours whenever he finished his daily chores. 

Little one was fine too. His heartbeats had been in regular pace since the third month. He sounded healthy and that was good. 

What changed, was Karna’s behavior. It was around the fifth month that it started. Karna had been very clingy since then. He would cling on Arjuna whenever he could. Like now.

Karna had been hugging Arjuna from behind and resting his head on Arjuna’s shoulder while he write on his notebook. Karna had been there for some time. He just wanted to stick as close as possible to his mate. Arjuna’s smell was nice and it felt safe when Karna could cling on him.

Arjuna had finished writing his notes for now. He would update it tomorrow. He closed the book and put down his pen. “I’m done,” Arjuna said.

Karna quickly raised his head and let go of his arms. Arjuna changed direction and faced Karna, and he got hugged again. Arjuna rubbed the back as he smiled. Clingy Karna was great. Arjuna was so proud with this. Because normal Karna, while he would hug and kiss, but he wasn’t clingy like this. 

“You should go to sleep now,” Arjuna said as he kissed Karna’s temple. Sleep was important to keep the baby and mother healthy. Arjuna would make sure Karna had at least for four hours of sleep a day, divided into two or more session. “Aren’t you tired? You did some work today and you didn’t take any nap.”

Karna didn’t let go of the hug. “I’m fine.” he said as he kept sticking on Arjuna, his face was still buried on the shoulder. The level of clinginess was gradually raising day by day.

Arjuna felt something was off. He put his hands on Karna’s head and pulled his head up from his shoulder. Karna’s face looked tired. “You really should get some sleep. You’re tired.”

Karna wasn’t happy with that. He pulled Arjuna even closer. He just didn’t want to let go. “No.”

Arjuna sighed. “I am not going anywhere today.” He said but Karna was still clinging on him. “I understand, I’ll go to sleep with you.” Karna finally let go of his hug after he heard what he wanted to hear. 

Karna had been so clingy lately, he wouldn’t sleep if Arjuna wasn’t right next to him. Karna had been making Arjuna into his personal body pillow. “Really?” Karna asked as he looked with hopeful eyes. 

“Really,” Arjuna nodded, 

And that was how he ended up on bed with Karna hugging him so tightly in his sleep. Karna was sleeping deeply but his arms still wouldn’t let go. Arjuna couldn’t sleep. He wasn’t sleepy at all and it was so boring. But he couldn’t use his phones because Karna was sensitive to those lights and he would wake up. For the sake for his mate and child, he would lay here doing nothing for the next four hours.

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	6. Chapter 6

It was ten weeks ago when the new law was announced. The progress was fast. And it had came to re-registering. Vampires were ordered to re-register themselves and abandon their fake id. They were give three months time limit to do that.

If they didn’t register by the time limit, they would be criminals. 

Honestly, Arjuna had the doubts on this. Even when the queen monarch said they were to co-exist, and the laws had been made, there were too many complains, mainly from human sides. After all, co-exist with your ex-predator was supposed to be hard. 

Arjuna decided they should oblige the new law, for the sake for the future of their child as well. Lots of problems would arise from this. But, they wouldn’t be getting anywhere if they don’t. 

Problem was, it was hard to explain to Karna because he hadn’t been updating with the human world for nine years. Okay. Partly that was Arjuna’s fault. But he didn’t expect things would turn out like this. 

“You’re saying vampires can live like humans now?” Karna asked as he tilted his head a bit, he was confused as he looked at Arjuna. They both sat at the round table for this discussion and had been there for more than fifteen minutes.

“Yes,” Arjuna nodded again, how many times had he heard that question in different forms of words. “That’s why we need to register soon before the time limit ends.”

Karna’s face was one thing, he didn’t trust Arjuna at all. “But that could be a trap,” Karna had lived his whole life being careful with the humans, revealing his ownself as a vampire was just unthinkable. Especially now, with a child, going out to the humans scared him. “And there were other vampires that could attack us.”

Especially since Galahad and Bedivere’s visit three months ago, Karna was even more scared of hunters.

Explaining peace to someone who lived in constant suspiciousm was hard. Arjuna sighed. “That’s why there’s the new law. If we register ourselves, we will have rights just like humans and the hunters will not attack unless we break the rules,” Arjuna said as he clicked on the government’s web and opened the newly implemened laws about co-existance. “Read this.” He said and turned his laptop screen to Karna. 

Karna read the words but he still couldn’t warp his head on this. “But,” he glanced to Arjuna. “...What about that... Gilgamesh...?” Karna said that name slowly and lightly. That name was hard to be said and Karna still hated that man as much as he feared.

Arjuna raised his hand and brushed on Karna’s pale cheek for a second before he answers the question. “That, you don’t have to worry. That thing is dead. The hunters killled him.”

Karna shrugged in discomfort as he heard that. It sounded like a joke. But if Arjuna said so, then Karna would believe. “But still...” Karna frowned and looked at his own stomach, it wasn’t showing much, only a few centimeters bump, still vampires could quickly know he was pregnant just by his smell.

Sensing the anxiety, Arjuna pulled the worried omega into his embrace. “It will be okay. I promise you.” He said as he rubbed Karna’s back, trying to make him feel better. “I will stay with you the whole time.”

Arjuna really cursed Galahad for causing this. It took Arjuna a long time to make Karna slowly forget about his past trauma and Galahad just came to add a new one. Karna used to dislike hunters, but he never feared them. Now, he was straight afraid of them, he feared losing another child.

Before Galahad came, Karna would still walk outside the house and play with the cats or just simply walk around. Now, he didn’t want to go out as much. Only for a short periods to drop the cat feed or laundry, and he did it after he made sure nobody was close. And then he would stay inside the house most of the time. He didn’t want to be seen anymore.

But Arjuna had asked him. Karna reluctantly agreed on it. 

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There were a few buildings for the registration. Governmental buildings. Arjuna drove to the closest one. Because it wasn’t the capital, there weren’t many people there. 

They sat down after they took their numbers and the other vampires stared at them. No, at Karna to be precise. They just don’t see pregnant omegas that often, and on top of it, a pureblood. And Karna was tense for the whole time.

Until they heard a voice. “Man, look at that lucky bastard. He got a pretty omega! I wish I have one too.” That man, Robin, complained as he sat down after he took his number. 

Arjuna eyed Robin. Oh, Arjuna actually liked what he just heard. Yes, he was a lucky bastard who had a pretty mate and Arjuna was proud with that. Next to Robin was a man with red eyes and blue hair. _Oh, the blood seller pureblood, Cu Chulainn. He’s here to register as well._

“I’m not interested in du—“ Cu Chulainn was about to finish his sentence when he looked at Karna and they both was surprised. “You! Karna!”

Karna’s lips formed a smile as Arjuna watched. _Wait, what?_ Karna got up from his chair as Cu walked to him. Cu hit Karna’s arm lightly as he grinned. “Man... long time no see, I can’t believe we meet again,” He said with happy tone, meeting an old friend in unexpected place was a good thing. “Woah, you’re having a kid too.”

“Ah,” Karna nodded as he smile. “You don’t change at all, Cu.”

Arjuna could simply watch as he try to comprehend the fact that these two were actually friends. Arjuna didn’t expect this. And he didn’t like Karna talking to other alphas. But Karna seemed very happy as he talked to Cu.

“Oh, so you’re Karna’s mate!,”Cu glanced to Arjuna. “Man, why don’t you say so?” Then he looked back to Karna. “I can’t believe you choose a hunter to be your mate.” He said as he put his arm over Karna’s shoulder. 

Oh, Arjuna didn’t like that closeness. _That’s my wife you’re touching there!_ He got up from his seat and shoved that hand away. “Sorry, please don’t get too close to Karna. Karna might get nervous if you get too close.” Arjuna said with narrow eyes. It was partly true, but mainly Arjuna was just jealous.

Robin cursed inside his head as he watched. _Damned lucky bastard._

“Gimme your number,” Cu said as he pulled out his phone, ready to input a number.

“Sorry, I don’t have a phone.” Karna said as he shook his head.

“What? Seriously?” Cu looked at Karna and then Arjuna with disbelief.

The two talked for some more minutes while Arjuna watched them closely. Even though, Karna was so tense a few minutes ago, now he was completely normal. Meeting an old friend made him feel familiar with the outside world again. 

And then their number was shown in the digital screen above one of the doors. Karna bid Cu a goodbye and then they went inside. It was normal registration session. Name, address, sex and secondary sex was asked as well. And then their fingerprints and pictures were taken. Their old identity was disposed as the new one was created in the system. “We will send your id card and family registry to your address in a week.” The staff told them.

It was not as scary as Karna had imagined. It was very normal. 

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“How long had you known him?” Arjuna asked as he drive and look to the road in front of him. 

“About fifty years ago,” Karna said as he glanced to Arjuna. “We used to go fishing together. We sold the fish to the humans.”

“Hoo,” Arjuna wasn’t that amused but Karna was talking of the period when Arjuna wasn’t even born yet. “You two were good friends?”

“Ah,” Karna nodded with a smile. “We lived together for some time.” Memories of the fun days they spent together came to his head. It was so fun. Cu was a good friend.

And that shot a thunder behind Arjuna. He stopped the car and he grabbed on both Karna’s shoulder. That information was so sudden and Arjuna wanted to burn Cu now. He could hear Cu’s laugh in his head. Karna, living with Cu, an alpha, for a period of time. “Wha... What!? Is he your ex!?” _Is that why you looked so happy when you see him!?_

“No, Cu is just a friend,” Karna tried to explain, Arjuna jealously was just as clear as the sky above them. “That time I was wandering around and he let me use his basement.”

Arjuna’s jealous face was still there but he had calmed down. He went back to the steer and continued driving. Arjuna had added Cu into his hate list now. “Tell me the details.” 

Karna couldn’t help but smile. This Arjuna was too possesive. Karna told him about his past with Cu. About the basement, about Cu’s friends that became his friends as well, and how they two met, “I was taking a bath at the pond when he came to fish.”

“So... he saw you naked?” Arjuna asked, with low unpleasant tone. _Calm down... you don’t want to break the steer, right, myself?_

Karna sweated a bit. He shouldn’t have talked about how they met. “Ah,” Karna nodded slowly as he watched Arjuna’s face for any changes. “But it was not on purpose and he didn’t do anything. We just went fishing together after that.”

Arjuna was unhappy the whole way home.

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As soon as they got home, Arjuna pulled Karna into an embrace. He kissed the omega passionately. Maybe the jealousy had caused the urges but he wanted to be intimate. 

Arjuna shoved his tongue inside as his hands get under the clothes. He went straight to the ass and groped it. Karna gasped when he felt the hand moved and reached his hole. 

Hot kisses and the hand made Karna flushing in red. Arjuna was so impatient. They didn’t even go to the their room. The started this right after the closed the door. 

Arjuna pushed Karna down and he sat down. His back was on the walls as Arjuna’s hands unbutton Karna’s white shirt after he took off the jacket. Then he licked that pale chest, and then to the neck. And he nibbed on Karna’s right ear while his hands touched Karna’s dick, slowly stroking and turning him on. The smell was amazing, the omega pheromones was screaming that he need to be fucked now.

“Please... put it in.” Karna said with hot breath as he spread his legs. He wanted Arjuna inside him. He was already so wet. Juices were leaking out from him.

Arjuna smirked proudly for what he had done. He put his hand behind Karna’s head and slowly pulled him down. Making him lay on his back and he put Karna’s head down gently. 

Arjuna unzipped his pants and pulled out his erect, slowly pushing his dick into his mate. Karna moaned as he feel the thing entering him slowly. It was hot and it felt so good. 

Arjuna had to remind himself again that Karna was pregnant and he had to do this slow and gently. His thursts were paced. No sudden thrusts. It went in and out slowly as Karna closed his eyes as he enjoy the feeling. Sweet voices were coming out from his mouth as he was getting wetter every second. _Ah, this is good..._

Arjuna was taking their sweet time doing his mate. Karna’s lewd was Arjuna’s personal favorite.

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	7. Chapter 7

Year one, month eight. The bump was showing now. The size was equal to month three in human. To be honest, Arjuna didn’t know much about vampires’ pregnancy progress. There wasn’t any books on this.

All Arjuna knew was what he had learnt when he studied vampires to be a hunter. He learnt the basic stuff, but it didn’t taught much about pregnancy process and the childbirth except for the length and the danger that caused birth of purebloods so rare. 

Omegas were rare but they were still 5% of the vampire population. Pregnancy weren’t as mythic as people often said. It was just a lot of omegas don’t survive until the end of pregnancy. Because they need too much amount of human blood. Most of them got caught by the hunters or they die by being eaten from inside because of starvation.

It was impossible for an omega to survive alone. They were not suitable for combat anymore, their body weakened itself. Their strength were equal to a human’s and once they got big enough, walking was hard, moreover running away from the hunters. Pregnant omegas were truly dependent on their mates.

In his career, Arjuna had caught a few experience of this. If they somehow tracked out a pregnant omega, their top priority was to find it. And as soon as they were found, they were to be executed instantly to prevent birth of more purebloods. And those pregnant omegas Arjuna caught in his work, all of them were alone which was way they were very easy targets to be exterminated. It was as easy as stealing a candy from a baby.

Arjuna looked at Karna who was sleeping on his side. Karna was hugging him closely under the covers. He was breathing calmly, sometimes he would move a bit. Still clingy as ever. Arjuna smelled the soft hair and he closed his eyes. The smell that he couldn’t resist. The smell that demanded his protection. The smell of his family.

The thought of killing omegas left a very bad taste in his mouth. Arjuna’s eyes darkened as he remembered what he had done. If Karna was in the same situation as those omegas... just by thinking about it had Arjuna scared and angry at the same time.

“Why are you angry?” 

Arjuna looked to his side, Karna was awake. His eyes were open, but still sleepy eyes. “Sorry, I must have woke you...” Arjuna aplogized. 

Vampires, unlike humans, could understand each other’s emotions by the smell. Happy, sad, anger, fear. They had their own differences. And this must have alerted Karna. Arjuna made a mental note not to think of anything like this anymore when Karna sleeps next to him.

Karna thought about the reasons what could made Arjuna angry. He had one on his head. “Sorry, must be boring just to lay down and doing nothing,” he said and he let of of his grip on Arjuna. “Sorry.”

“Have been your body pillow for months, why do you think I am angry by now?” Arjuna said as he sighed and then he pulled Karna’s head and out it on his chest. “I was just thinking about something from the past.” he said.

Karna looked up. “I see.”

Arjuna let go of the embrace and looked down. “I have a few questions though.”

“What are those?” 

“Back then, when you saved me from that vampire,” Arjuna asked. He was talking about that night he did what Holmes told him to do. Arjuna was injured badly and Karna came running saving him from a vampire that was about to eat him. “Were you still able to fight?”

“Ah,” Karna nodded. “But stamina was limited, I could only do that for a short time.”

Arjuna sat up. “Wait, let me bring my notes.” He said and went outside for his notes. He returned in a few seconds. He sat down next to Karna who was still laying on the futon. He clicked his pen and ready to write down the important things. “How about now?”

“It’s hard to do that now,” Karna said as he looked at Arjuna’s serious face. He couldn’t help it but smile. “Maybe a few minutes at most.” Pregnancy was very tiring.

“How about your strength? Can you still throw someone now?” A funny question, but Arjuna was using that night as a standard. 

Karna put his hands on his belly and looked up to the ceiling. This was his body they were talking about. He should know, but he didn’t really know if he could. “Maybe not anymore.” He said as he sighed lighty. Karna could feel his body gradually getting weaker as his belly growing bigger. He didn’t hate it though. Plus, Arjuna was with him now. And they were in peaceful times. 

“How about breaking a doorknob?” Arjuna asked and Karna chuckled. Arjuna’s standard of breaking things. Doorknobs. “Can you still do it?”

“If it’s only doorknob, I can still pull it off if I try hard enough.” Karna answered. 

Arjuna wrote it down precisely. But this wasn’t enough. Arjuna put down his note and pen. He gave his left hand to Karna. “Grip on my hand as hard as you could.” He said.

Karna looked at that hand with unsure face. “You sure? This might hurt.”

Arjuna nodded confidently. “I need to know your current maximum output.”

Karna sat up. He was a bit hesitant, but he grabbed on that hand with his right one. He looked at Arjuna once again. And then Karna pressed as hard as he could. Arjuna cringed in pain and Karna quickly let go. “Sorry.” He apologized. 

_That hurts!!_ Arjuna looked at his own hands. The pinky finger looked a weird. “That’s your most powerful grip?”

Karna nodded. “Yes.”

“Okay...” It hurts a lot. Arjuna could feel his two fingers was cracked. But it wasn’t strong enough to crush the whole hand. It healed in matter of seconds though. So it wasn’t a problem. But Arjuna didn’t thought Karna would still have this level of strength.

Karna’s strongest grip at his normal days could easily destroy a metal bar. His punch could easily destroy a wall. Karna was a pureblood after all, he was by default many times stronger than Arjuna. His peaceful nature made him seemed weak and now, by having a baby really made him weaker.

_My wife is truly strong..._


	8. Chapter 8

Year two, month eleven. Karna’s belly was getting bigger. On human size, he should be around fifth month. Karna started to have balance problem at this size. He was too used to his light and fast body, and being so heavy bothered him. The thing that obvious, aside from his belly, was his movement getting more sluggish. He also had backache very often, and sometimes dizziness. And he went to toilet more frequent.

Karna was doing his usual stuff. He was sweeping the floor. He moved a step and a step as he kept sweeping until suddenly he lost his balance. Thankfully the wall was right behind of him and it hold his back. This had happened a few times. Thankfully the house wasn’t big and walls were everywhere. His ass had been saved a few times by the walls.

Arjuna walked to him and stopped right next to him. He looked at Karna as he crossed his arms. He had caught Karna the second time almost falling today and he wasn’t looking happy at all. “Go sit and read something.” He said and took away the broom from Karna’s hand. 

“But I’m okay,” Karna tried to hold onto his broom. “I’m not doing anything heavy.”

Arjuna still took the broomstick. “No,” He denied straightly. “And there’s no need to clean the house everyday.”

“But—“

“No buts, Karna,” Arjuna narrowed his eyes as he looked to Karna. “Think of your body. You’re not alone anymore.”

Karna glanced to his own bloated belly. Arjuna was making a point. He was not alone. If he fell, it would have impact to the baby. “I understand,” he said and nodded.

He walked away and he sat the cushion. Resting his back on the walls. The cracks from when he hit his head was still there, above him. Apparently they couldn’t fix it with paint and they just left it like that.

Arjuna put away the broom after he had cleaned up the dust. Then he sat down on the table as well. Karna watched him the whole time. Arjuna continued with his business with his laptop. 

Karna could never understand what Arjuna was doing with it, but Arjuna said it was his passive income. And Karna was even more confused. _An electric box can make money? How?_ Though Karna didn’t ask more because he didn’t want to bother Arjuna with his dumb questions.

Karna hadn’t moved an inch since the sat there. He didn’t do anything but staring at Arjuna. Arjuna had waited ten minutes to see if that stare would stop and Karna would get up and went to his bookshelf. But no. Karna kept staring on him. “What?” Arjuna finally asked. “Did you finish all your manga already?” 

“Ah,” Karna nodded. “I’ve re-read them a few times already.” 

Arjuna raised his brows. _Ah, Karna must be bored. He had nothing to do if he didn’t do the chores._ “Is there anything you want to do?”

“I want to wipe the win—“ 

“Except cleaning the house,” Arjuna sighed as he looked at Karna. Karna’s hobby had been cleaning ever since he moved here. _I need to introduce him to a new hobby that doesn’t include moving around._ “Anything you want to try?”

Karna thought about it. If there was anything he wanted to do, he would say. But he couldn’t think of anything. He looked down to his belly as he think of more. And one idea crossed his mind. “I want to make baby clothes.” 

Sounded like a great idea to Arjuna. A hobby for their child and one that didn’t include Karna moving around. “That’s a good one,” Arjuna smiled. “Let’s get the things for that.”

Karna’s face brigthened up as he saw Arjuna’s smile. “Thank you.” Karna nodded happily.

Arjuna turned off his laptop and got up. And then he looked back at Karna with complicated face. Karna hadn’t moved at all. He kept smiling as he looked up to Arjuna.

Arjuna facepalmed and sighed. He knew this was mostly his fault. Arjuna wanted to take Karna out for this one but he just didn’t get it. Because Arjuna never took Karna anywhere. If he went out, Karna would be left at home.

Mostly because Arjuna just went out for supplies and he didn’t want to take Karna for that. The place he went to get ‘legal’ blood and other stuff was filled with vampires, and Arjuna just didn’t want to show Karna to them. They could still be dangerous, because Karna was still a delicious meal for them. _This feels bad._

But Arjuna was still torn between this. He wanted to keep Karna all for himself, but the other part of him also wanted to see Karna happy going outside. But Arjuna realized, his possesiveness wasn’t healthy for Karna. Not to mention, Arjuna had no more reason to hide Karna. He was no longer threatened.

Arjuna offered his hand to Karna. “Do you want to come?” 

Karna glanced at the hand, and then back to Arjuna. “I can?” Karna asked and Arjuna nodded. Karna’s face was even more happier, his eyes were shining and his smile was wide. He took the hand and quickly got up. And he hugged Arjuna in delight. Arjuna was sure he had never seen Karna so happy before. _Is this mood swing?_

_I should take Karna out more often now..._

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As soon as they walked on the street, the people around stared at Karna. A man with a pregnant belly. While it was normal for the vampires, it was weird as heck for the humans.

Now, Karna felt so uncomfortable with all the stares. He sticked close to Arjuna and held on his hand. _Maybe taking Karna out wasn’t a really good idea?_

Sure it had been a year since co-exist law was implemented, but vampires were still minority. Even if they do walk, they looked totally like a normal human. If Karna was a woman, maybe things would look normal. But he wasn’t.

“Are you okay?” Arjuna asked as he glanced to Karna, worriedly. “Do you want to go home?”

Karna shook his head. “I’m fine,” He said. His face was default mode flat but his discomfort was clear to Arjuna. 

First, they go to the material shop. They chose the softest and nice feeling fabrics, it was for their baby after all. They also picked the sewing kit. The shop keeper stared at them in silence until Arjuna spoke up and asked for the item. The stare was quite annoying. 

They went to the book store next. Because Karna would need a book for this. Karna looked around the bookstore as he followed Arjuna inside. They went to look for the book about sewing. And the bookstore worker, Mash, dropped the books she was holding when she saw Karna. 

“Ignore that. She’s just rude.” Arjuna said as he pulled Karna’s hand and led him to look around.

They found the book they wanted. Even more perfect, it was one about making baby clothes. The cover was combination of pink, yellow, and light blue. Karna was so pleased with this book. 

Then they went to the novel corner. Arjuna told Karna to pick whatever he was interested in. He chose a horror mystery novel. “I once read this person’s work. It was quite good.” Karna commented when he saw the author’s name.

“I see,” Arjuna looked at the book, it was from a famous senior author. Though, Arjuna never read his works because his genre wasn’t Arjuna’s thing, but he knew the author. “Do you want to check on the mangas as well?” Arjuna asked and Karna nodded. Karna picked for his usual series and a new one. He chose it for the cool cover.

When they went to the cashier, it was the girl from earlier. Mash was still looking at Karna with wide eyes and dropping jaw. Her hands moved automatically, scanning the barcode on the books and naturally put them in the paper bag, clipped it perfectly without even looking. Mash handed the bag to Arjuna.

“Sir...“ Mash called as she looked at Karna intensely. She braven herself to walk closer and looked at Karna from top to down. “...are you an omega?” 

Karna shrugged. Suddenly a human started to talk to him and he wasn’t really good at communicating. “Ah,” Karna nodded awkwardly as Mash stared even more. “Is there anything I can help you with?” Karna tried to be as polite as he could.

Mash shook his head and apologized as she raised both hands on her chest. “No! It’s just I never saw a male omega. I’m surprised...” She said and bowed. “I’m sorry for being rude.”

Arjuna raised his brows as he analyzed the bookstore girl. _This girl is weird. She seemed to be very used to vampires. Did she know some? She said she never saw a male one, did she know a woman omega? Wait, do I know her? She seemed familiar..._

“That’s okay,” Karna said as he glanced to Arjuna and then back to Mash. “Then I’ll be going now.”

“Yes,” Mash said and nodded. “Thank you for your purchase, please come back again.” Then Arjuna remembered. That was Galahad’s little sister over there. _No wonder she’s so weird._

The day out was a new experience for Karna. It felt weird that a human actually asked about him. It was the first time he could walk around as a vampire and no hunters would try to kill him. The stares were annoying though but they were toleratable. They didn’t mean any harm. He could talk openly with a human as well. There were no danger. So. it was overall, a good day out.

Karna liked the new society that accepted the vampires. If this will be the world his child would live in, surely it would be a good life.


	9. Chapter 9

_My wife is being so weird lately..._

At first everything was good. Karna had so much fun making baby clothes. Cute shirts, hand cover, small pants. Arjuna clutches heart whenever he saw those small shirts. It was so cute and Karna’s expression when he sew, he looked very motherly as he did the strings. The gentle expression and the small smile. Arjuna wanted to see him holding their baby soon. _Ah, but that’s two more years to wait. Why the hell vampires take so long?_

But it didn’t last long. Two months later and autumn had came. Arjuna looked at Karna who was still sewing. Arjuna was getting worried as he looked at the stack of baby clothing that had been made. Babies doesn’t need that much shirt, they grew up quickly. 

Arjuna coughed awkwardly as he put a blanket over Karna’s shoulder. “I think you should stop making them now,” Arjuna said as he pulled Karna into an embrace from behind. “You already had enough until three years old.”

Karna glanced back to Arjuna, and then to the stack of his handwork. Arjuna had a point. He had made a lot. “Let me finish this last one.” Karna said and continued the one he was doing. 

“Okay,” Arjuna said and he let go of the embrace. 

Karna finished and he cut the string. He looked at his work proudly and then he put it together with the stack. Karna picked the stack and got up slowly. 

Arjuna just came back from the kicthen with a glass of warm water he heated for Karna. “Where are you going?” Arjuna asked as he looked at Karna opening the door.

“I want to wash this,” he said as he looked back to Arjuna. Karna had the habit of washing new clothes before putting them into the cupboard. It has always been like that as far as Arjuna could remember. Karna did the same thing when he got Arjuna new shirt.

“Can you do it?” Arjuna smiled as he asked. He put the glass on the table. “I’ll help you.”

Karna smiled back. “No problem. I can do this alone.”

“Call me if you need anything,” Arjuna said as he sat down. Karna nodded and walked out. The cats right outside meowed and climbed to him as he walked to behind the house. He filled the buckets with water and soaked the clothes it. 

He picked the short chair Arjuna had bought some time ago because Karna had hard time squatting. He sat on it as he washed the mini clothes and the cats were around him. One was on his head.

He put washed them and put them into the basket as he walked to the hangar. He pinned the mini clothes there.

Karna wanted to go back into the house but the cats were still hanging on him. Four of them. And Arjuna didn’t like them inside. Karna put down the basket on the ground and he pulled off the cat from his back. He gently threw the cat away, it landed perfectly. Cats. He would want to put down the cat properly, but bending was hard and he didn’t want to risk falling.

He was about to threw the second cat away when the one from earlier climbed back onto him. cats throwing and climbing never-ending cycle started. The cats loved climbing on Karna, even birds liked to land on him. 

Arjuna sensed Karna’s presence and he could hear his every movement and the extra ones. _Must be the cats again._ Arjuna sighed and went out. Karna was trying to remove the cats from himself.

Arjuna grabbed on the cat and pulled it off. But Arjuna didn’t put it down, he kept holding on it as he pulled off the second one. Then he used his arms to hold them on his chest, and he pulled off the last two. “Go inside.” Arjuna said and Karna nodded. He picked the basket and went inside.

Then, Arjuna let the cats go. If it was him, the cats wouldn’t climb. Because animals could sense the vampire’s dislike on them. Instinct stuff. And then he went inside as well.

Arjuna had thought Karna would sit down or sleep, but he was wrong. Karna was once again picking on his chores again. He was holding a cloth and a sprayer. “You... just wiped the window two days ago.” Arjuna said and he took the cloth and sprayer away. “Go sit down, you haven’t finished your novel.”

“But—“

“No buts.” Arjuna sighed as he looked at Karna with narrow eyes. “You already did some cleaning earlier today. No more.” Arjuna couldn’t fathom Karna’s obsession with cleaning the house. He didn’t even finished his novel yet. 

Karna nodded silently and he went away and sat on his cushion. Picking on his horror novel that was on the table. He opened the page with his bookmark, and he continued reading. Arjuna watched Karna for a few seconds more, making sure that wasn’t moving anywhere and then he went to put away the sprayer and cloth.

It was not that Arjuna didn’t want to let Karna clean. But Karna wasn’t considerate enough with his own body. He would always work until he got tired and couldn’t move anymore. And Arjuna didn’t think that was healthy. _Karna need to think more about his own body!_

Karna dropped his book. It just fell onto the table. He bent down as he hold onto his stomach. His face was on the table as he cringed. Karna had felt the baby moving often, but it never hurted. _This one hurts. A kick? Or a bite?_ Being attacked from inside wasn’t great at all.

Arjuna returned to the room because he heard a thud and he saw Karna being like that. “What’s wrong!?” Arjuna asked, worriedly. He held onto Karna’s shoulder and looked to the white hair. His face was still facing down. 

Karna looked up a bit. “I think the baby just kicked...” he said and raised his head.

Arjuna wanted to be happy for that, because the baby finally kicked for the first time. But it didn’t seem like he should be happy for this. Also he didn’t expect a kick could hurt like this. “Are you still hurting?”

Karna straightened up his back and shook his head. “I’m okay now...” He said and grabbed on Arjuna, burying his face on that shoulder. Arjuna was warm and it feels good. His smell calmed Karna.

.  
.  
.  
.  
.

 

The next day, Arjuna had the same arguement again with Karna. “What if the baby kicks again? You must not move a lot anymore.” Arjuna said, he was trying to take the broomstick away.

Karna was holding onto the broom as if his life was on the line. “There’s no kick today. Let me do this.” He said as he tried to pull it back.

Arjuna felt this was getting ridiculous. They were figthing over a broom and Karna wasn’t letting it go. Usually he would nod when Arjuna told him things, but this Karna simply wouldn’t nod. “I’ll do it!” Arjuna said, half yelling as he pulled the stick away, distancing it from Karna.

Arjuna was ready for a counter-arguement but it didn’t came. Instead, Arjuna noticed a weird smell of upset. Karna looked at him, totally pissed. His lips formed a frown as he looked straight at Arjuna. Tears were welling in his eyes, and when he blinked, they fell down. They fell like waterfall. _wha... what..? What did I do wrong!_ Arjuna had never seen Karna cried before. He had spent years with him, not even once. Okay. Once did happen, but that one Arjuna didn’t want to count. “I’m sorry...” Arjuna apologized. 

But Karna didn’t response. He turned his back and walked straight to their room. And from that door, he could hear light sobs. Arjuna randomly put the broom on the wall and walked to the door. “Karna, I’m sorry for yelling.”

The sobs were still there, getting louder. “I’m really sorry,” Arjuna apologized again. “I’ll go inside, okay?” Arjuna asked. He waited a moment and there weren’t any reply. So he slowly opened the door and checked inside.

Karna was on the corners. He buried his face on his knees as he cried.

“Are you okay?” Arjuna asked in concern as he sat in front of his mate. Yesterday was the first kick, today was the first mood swing. No, maybe this wasn’t the first one. 

Karna peeked a little. His eyes were a bit red and wet. He didn’t answer that question. He was totally pissed. Arjuna could sense it. Karna had been quite a bit extreme lately. He does everything a bit too much. 

Arjuna raised his hand and touched Karna’s arm. “Sorry, please don’t cry.” 

Karna raised his head. His expression showed his upset. “I can’t do this... I can’t do that too...” Karna said with cracking voice. And then more tears came out. He kept wiping them with his sleeve but they didn’t stop flowing.

Dealing with this Karna was way more harder than planning with a murder. Arjuna just didn’t know what to do next. He could easily hide a body, but what to do to soothe a crying Karna? Arjuna was thinking so hard. “Are you hungry?” Arjuna asked, hoping that Karna would nod and bite on him or something. But Karna shook his head.

Arjuna glanced around the room as he tried to think more. He randomly asked questions in order to find what Karna might want. “Do you want to see the cats?” Arjuna couldn’t believe that he would use the cats. But he didn’t had anything else. He would rely on the cats this time.

But it didn’t work. Karna buried his head onto his knees again. He didn’t even bother to reply. Arjuna sighed. “How about a bath?” Because Karna loved warm bath. That calms him. 

Karna didn’t respond again. And Arjuna was getting a bit desperate. “Is there anything you want?” 

“I don’t need anything.” Karna finally said something after minutes of silence. But his voice was small and it sounded like he would cry again.

 _I really need to introduce Karna to a new hobby. Something that would stop him from moving around or making things..._ Karna was anxious. That was why he couldn’t stop himself. Hormones turned him weird. Then the idea hit Arjuna. “Karna, let’s go to the town and get a TV.”

“For what?” Karna asked as he raised his head. He still looked sad. 

“To watch it, of course, that’s a silly question,” Arjuna said and then laughed lightly. He was glad Karna would look at him now. 

“But we don’t watch TV.” 

“You might want to watch them now...” _Please don’t shot this idea down._ Arjuna was praying inside his heart that Karna would nod on this. “Please?” Arjuna added at the end.

Karna stared at Arjuna for a few seconds before he slowly nodded. But it was a reluctant one. He really didn’t need a TV. He had passed years without watching that electric box. But if Arjuna asked for it, he would nod. For now. But his mood was still bad. Rather than sad, he was angry now. He was angry because he didn’t got to sweep.

They went to the store. As always, people were looking at Karna. But this time, he glared at every single of them with his cold blue eyes and they were scared away. Humans were scared with the eyes, vampires were even more scared because the extra scary pheromones. 

Not even the vampire shopkeeper dared to look at Karna after he was glared once. Even Arjuna was scared with this Karna. Arjuna sensed it the whole time behind him, Karna was really pissed and he was silent for the whole trip. 

Arjuna chose an 28-inch LED TV. The living room was small, this size was enough. Any bigger would take all the space. He could put it between to the book shelves once he moved them.

Arjuna sweated cold the whole time as Karna stood behind him in silence. Arjuna smiled awkwardly to the shopkeeper as he asked about the TV.

Angry Karna’s smell was scary. His pureblood’s authority vibes was so clear and he was emitting dangerous wave. The vampire shopkeeper even trembled as he scanned the barcode. He was sweating heavily and his hands were shaking crazily as he tried not to run away. Professionalism at the finest. _The boss should be proud with this employee._ Because all vampires would instinctly run as soon as they feel this vibes. 

What could be more scary that an angry pureblood? A pregnant one.

Arjuna peeked behind and Karna’s glare was straight to him. Arjuna quickly turned away. _That’s too scary!_

This TV was an unexpected expenses. Arjuna would have to redo his budget spreadsheet tonight.

But, at least the TV plan worked! _Thank goodness it worked!_

Now, Karna was watching the TV. The anime adaptation of his favorite manga. Karna had his head on the stacked cushion and laid on his back as he watched. He had a blanket on top of him. Arjuna put it there to keep him warm and the big round stomach was a mountain under the blanket. Karna put his both hands on top of it.

Karna wasn’t angry anymore. His expression had changed slightly for a few times as the anime progresses. 

Karna was having fun with the new TV.


	10. Chapter 10

Thanks to the TV, Karna hadn’t been moving as much. He would still do chores though. And Arjuna wouldn’t dare to argue anymore. Especially when it was about sweeping. Because Karna would look at him the whole time as he sweep, basically saying ‘don’t take my broom away’ and holding on it as if it was his treasure. 

Arjuna didn’t know what caused Karna to be so obsessed with the broom, but he would let it pass. Karna hadn’t been making much sense since he got big. And Arjuna wouldn’t want Karna to cry again. Though, Arjuna would be watching closely as Karna do it. Just in case.

But aside from the light chores, Karna would be on the TV. He didn’t got restless anymore thanks to the shows. Though it was partly the reason. There was something else that caused Karna moving less. It was his belly that had gotten even bigger in these ten months. Moving around was tiring. Plus the lower-back pain and the baby had been quite active inside. The kicks became more frequent.

Karna had the TV turned on but he wasn’t that serious on watching it. He had been thinking about his back pain. He wanted to lay on his stomach, but the size wasn’t allowing him to do that. So he laid on his side. The pain was still there and he couldn’t nap thanks to this. Even though he had his blanket and cushions ready. But he just couldn’t ignore the pain.

Karna turned off the tv and put the remote aside. The remote was Karna’s privilege, so he put it next to him. Karna laid on his back again and closed his eyes. Trying to send himself to sleep, but it felt too uncomfortable. Plus the lamp was still on, but he was too lazy to get up to turn it off.

Karna returned on his side again. He pressed on the pain source with his palm. Circling it as he presses. _Better than nothing._ He switched position a few times, trying to get the less painful pose. Laying on his right side was the best for now. He closed his eyes but he wasn’t really asleep.

Then, Karna heard the sound of Arjuna’s return. Karna quickly got up with a smile plastered on his face. He stood right at the doors and Arjuna opened it. Karna quickly jumped to hug his mate. “Welcome back,” Karna was smelling into Arjuna. He had missed Arjuna so badly even though he had just been gone for three and half hours.

Arjuna couldn’t help but smile as well. _My wife is so cute._ Arjuna had his both hands occupied, but it wasn’t a problem for him to scoop Karna up with one hand as he walked inside the house and closed the door. “I’m back,” Arjuna said as he put down Karna and kissed him on cheek. Karna’s moodswing wasn’t always a bad thing, look how happy he was. Look at his big smile, and these happy vibes coming out from him. Even Arjuna got happy as well from this smell.

Karna was still sticking on Arjuna. Clingy mode on. “I need to put away the stuff, can you wait a minute?” Arjuna asked and Karna nodded. He let of go of his arms and he followed Arjuna to the kitchen.

Arjuna put the bottles of blood into the small fridge on the top of the counter now. Because they didn’t to hide it anymore. They stopped using the other one. Then there’s a bottle of the blood pill.

As soon as Arjuna turned back, Karna clinged on him again. Arjuna was so proud with this. He couldn’t stop smiling. Plus he could feel the round stomach. Great. _My life is perfect._

Arjuna scooped Karna with both hands as he walked to the living room. Karna’s smell was so nice, it made Arjuna so happy. “Did you took a nap?” Arjuna asked.

“I can’t,” Karna said and his brows were knitted. “My back hurts,” Karna had forgotten his backpain for a minute when Arjuna came home, but now, the pain returned to him. “Can you give me a rub?” Karna asked as he rubbed on his own back.

Of course, Arjuna would say yes. He happily said it. “Sit down, I’ll do it.” What could be happier than your beloved wife asking for a backrub.

Karna sat down and Arjuna was behind him. Arjuna had learnt how to give proper backrubs for backaches caused by pregnancy. And Arjuna had practiced so many times because Karna’s backpain kept returning. Now, his hands could be called a professional. But these rubs were Karna exclusive. Arjuna wouldn’t want to give backrubs to anyone else.

Arjuna’s hands skillfully pressed on the points and that eased the pain a lot. “Mmhmmm... a little bit lower.” Karna mumbled as he closed his eyes, enjoying the press.

Thanks to Arjuna, now Karna felt so refreshed. Sure it wasn’t completely gone, but it was way lesser pain. Karna turned back and clinged on Arjuna again. “Thank you.” Karna thanked next to the ear. 

“You’re welcome.” Arjuna replied as he hugged back. 

They stayed like that for minutes and Karna fell asleep while clinging on Arjuna. Ah, It wasn’t a bad thing. Karna just felt so warm and safe in his mate’s arms. He would drag Arjuna to the bed with him anyway.

Arjuna chuckled lightly as he listen to Karna’s sleeping breath. _How lovely._ Arjuna slowly laid Karna down. He grabbed on the cushion and put it behind Karna’s head. Then, he took the blanket and covered him. He got up and offed the lamp and returned to Karna.

Arjuna looked at the big belly. He caressed it gently and he could felt a motion from inside. The heartbeat was beating nicely. Arjuna looked up on Karna’s face again. He was so calm in his sleep. 

_One more year to go, huh? It has been quite a long time..._ Oh, Arjuna had to remind himself again that for vampires, five years were just a short time. They would still have a long time to go.

Arjuna laid down beside Karna, he rested on his sides and his head on his hand as he watched his beloved sleeping. _My wife is truly beautiful..._ No matter how many years Arjuna had spent watching Karna, he would still admire the beauty. Arjuna brushed his fingers on the pale cheek as he thought.

Then, all of sudden, Karna’s eyes shot wide open. “What’s wrong?” Arjuna asked as he looked at Karna.

He didn’t respond for the first few seconds. “No, it was just a kick.” Karna said and he glanced to Arjuna. And then he moved to his side and grabbed on Arjuna. Pulling him close as he closed his eyes again.

“Did it hurt?” Arjuna asked as he brushed on Karna’s messy hair and smelled onto it.

“Only a little.” Karna smiled a bit as he said. Love was painful afterall. And he loved his baby dearly. Karna quickly went back to sleep.

Arjuna could only hope that their child wouldn’t cause any problems with his bites or kicks. _Please don’t hurt your mother too much, Nitya._

That time, Arjuna didn’t know how much pain and problem that Nitya would cost them.


	11. Chapter 11

Three months ago, Karna was still very strong. Sure, the heavy stomach was making him hard to move around. But he could still walk around, do some cleaning, playing with the cats and other stuff. But now, he was total weak. He got exhausted just by little activity. He need to hold onto the walls just to walk. And he had lost some weight and his superhuman strength. 

“This is your strongest grip?” Arjuna asked and Karna let go of his grip as he nodded. Compared to the last one, this one was just weak. It was just like a normal human’s. 

Arjuna picked his note and wrote it down. He had been asking Karna to grip on his hand every often to see his change in power level. It was going down slowly day by day, but in this three months, it just fell down from the hill. 

Arjuna had counted the belly’s sizes with Karna’s weight. He had been taking his weight every week to count it. The belly’s growth and the weight wasn’t balanced. Karna was surely losing a few kilograms. Even though his intake was raising.

Arjuna returned to the round table, his laptop was on. Screens showing exchange rates and stocks. But Arjuna wasn’t focused into that now. Next to it, there was a few notes next to it. It was all about Karna’s changes. Arjuna had been writing them down in detail as if it was his diary. Arjuna picked the earlier month’s note and compared the weight growth. It had been balanced for the whole time. _Why does it suddenly changes? Three months ago, Karna was still fine._ Now he seemed like a sick person.

Year four, month three. Karna’s mood swing was completely gone, now replaced by continuous discomfort and sometimes melancholy feeling. He was still clingy as ever, but he wouldn’t jump for a hug or follow Arjuna as he hugged anymore. There was just no energy for that. Karna also stopped cleaning. He couldn’t do that anymore.

Karna got up slowly as he used the wall as support. “I’m going to the toilet.” He said and Arjuna nodded, still focusing on his datas. Karna looked at the notes and it had numbers. Karna didn’t understand which part of him was mathematical though. But this was Arjuna. He always does things that Karna couldn’t comprehend. 

Karna walked slowly to the toilet as he held onto his stomach. He need toilet break more now. Around 5 to 10 times a day. Which also Arjuna counted in his notes. Holding bladder was hard when his inside space were filled with a baby. 

Karna returned to the living room. Feeling a little bit ligther. Though, he was still feeling heavy. Karna sat down slowly and he was out of his breath. He closed his eyes and he laid down. It was just a trip to the toilet and he was out of gas. 

Suddenly, Karna had the urge to cry. While he does love his baby. But feeling tired 24/7 for a whole month wasn’t fun at all. Not to mention he couldn’t do anything despite of wanting to do something. And the worse of it, he was feeling hungry again. 

Arjuna noticed the shift of mood. Karna wasn’t happy earlier, but he didn’t smell like he wanted to cry. “What’s wrong...?” Arjuna said and dropped his pen and he went to Karna. He brushed Karna’s hair as he looked down to Karna.

“I’m a little hungry,” Karna said as he looked up to Arjuna who was looking at him with concern. “Can I have some more?”

Arjuna shrugged upon hearing that. “But you just had a bottle like four hours ago.” And usually, a bottle was for one and half a day. 

Karna closed his eyes. “Sorry, I’m fine,” he apologized. It was hunger but not an unbearable one. Karna didn’t want to binge drink just because of his condition. He was careful not to make consuming as his hobby, which other purebloods tend to do for fun. “My throat is just a bit dry... I’ll get some water.” He said and he pushed himself up to sitting position. 

“No, It’s okay... I’m just worried. I’ll get it.” Arjuna stood up and went to grab another bottle. Arjuna usually re-stock every two weeks. He bought 20 litres per trip normally, but if Karna kept this up, he would had to get more. So far, it wasn’t a problem. Their living expenses wasn’t expensive. Sure, the blood price has raised since new law was implemented. Because every drip was legally sold by humans who fit the criteria. Plus the tax. Blood business was heavily regulated. But it was still not a problem.

Arjuna turned on the stove, boiled some water. Then he poured the blood from the plastic bottle into a smaller metal bottle and returned the rest to the fridge. He put the metal bottle in the boiling water to warm it up. Because Arjuna believed warm stuff could help Karna. 

He drained the water and grabbed the bottle with a cloth. Then he brought it back to Karna with another cup of water.

Karna didn’t even wait. He took it and quickly gulped the content. He took the water and poured into the bottle and shake it. Then he drank he mix because he didn’t want to waste even a drop. 

Arjuna watched Karna drank. To be honest, from what he had know, pregnant vampires tend to eat humans. Eat. Not drink. Because human flesh were more filling. Drinking blood itself were like vegetarian for vampires. Karna never wanted to eat humans or vampires though, he believed it was too disrespectful towards the body. 

There were once in the past when Arjuna was about ten. Merlin gave a lunch box to Arjuna which he said was for Karna. Arjuna found it strange, because he knew Karna couldn’t eat human food. He took it home and Karna opened it. It was a piece of steak. Grilled. And Karna’s expression turned sour instantly.

Arjuna thought Karna was angry because of Merlin’s game of annoying Karna with human food and asked if he could eat the steak instead. Which Karna denied him instantly. “This is something you mustn’t eat.” He said in serious tone.

The boy of ten years old didn’t get it. “Why? It’s not like you can eat this.” Arjuna asked with fork and knife in his hands.

Karna was half angry. But he felt that throwing the meat after it was sent to him was not a good choice. That was disrespectful to the human as well. So he took the fork from arjuna’s hand and picked the meat. He ate it in front of the boy.

At first, Arjuna was shooked. “I thought you can’t eat human food!” Arjuna was a bit angry because the steak looked very good and he wanted it.

Karna sighed after he swallowed the whole thing. He quickly shoved the meat down because he didn’t want to enjoy it. Even though it was delicious. “I can eat this because this isn’t human food.”

The boy tilted his his head as he tried to process. “But it’s a steak...?” He asked nervously. Arjuna had guessed it, but he was too scared to say it out loud. He put the knife on the table and looked away. He was sweating cold as he comprehend what that meat was. Arjuna had always been smart since he was a child. He could understand things very quickly.

Karna shrugged uncomfortable as he saw Arjuna walked away. The boy was clearly scared with this. “Sorry, Arjuna,” Karna apologized. “But next time, don’t take anything from Merlin.” 

But that was the first and the last time Arjuna saw Karna actually ate. He never did it anymore. And Arjuna was a hunter. His squad once caught a warehouse full of human meat. Because the rich vampires were eaters.

Only poor ones drank. Because blood were very cheap back then. Just extras coming out from the human farm. Body parts were hanged everwhere and under it were buckets of blood. They were draining the body parts. That was probably Arjuna’s worst mission ever. 

Bedivere puked at the scene because it was too gory. Oh, but Tristan and Galahad seemed very okay. Maybe because Tristan didn’t see anything? He had his eyes closed the whole time. Galahad seemed pissed but he wasn’t shaken or anything.

Captain was disgusted. She didn’t want to see the scene and she covered her mouth the whole time, she was also crying. She blamed herself for not being able to save these people. Lancelot fainted. Gawain wasn’t there, but he was the one that notified and asked them to search the warehouse. Arjuna was... not very well. He couldn’t stand the scene and quickly ran away. Arjuna could see dead bodies and he would be fine, but butchered bodies were a different thing.

Also that day, Arjuna found out that the vampires turned the thighs into sausages.

Okay. Back to Karna, he looked a lot better after drinking the blood. He looked more ‘awake’ and less tired. _Guess Karna really was just hungry..._ “Thank you.” Karna said as smiled to Arjuna.

“Do you need anything else?” Arjuna asked and took the bottle and glass from Karna.

“I’m fine.” Karna replied and Arjuna went back to kitchen to wash them.

Arjuna returned to the living room and Karna was grabbing the TV remote. Really, Arjuna was so thankful for the invention of TV. And he was really glad with getting one. Just imagine how much worse Karna’s mood would be if he didn’t have the TV. He probably would try to do something again. 

Arjuna sat down and he returned to his business. Trading was one of his hobbies since his teen years. Oh, Arjuna still remembered how Karna’s shocked face when he saw the price tag of the ‘electric box’. But he still bought it because Arjuna wanted it. He worked so hard and sold more of his blood for it. Arjuna was really thankful for it. Actually, Arjuna didn’t ask for the laptop. He asked if he could work part time as well to save money for it. It was Karna who wouldn’t let him work. ‘Children aren’t supposed to work.’ Was what he said. Arjuna smiled as he recalled the good memories when Karna raised him. Being loved was all Arjuna recieved despite Karna himself not realizing it.

Karna seemed good and was watching the TV. Arjuna checked him every moment. He was watching the news channel as he laid on his back with his blanket. This had been his default pose for months. Because sitting longer than twenty minutes would make his backpain return, so he just lay down the whole time.

The reporter was talking about plane crash: “165 people died in the crash, including 2 pilots and 3 stewards.”

Arjuna watched the news as well. “Did you ever ride on a plane, Karna?” He randomly asked. Because as far as Arjuna knew, Karna never did.

“No, planes are dangerous.”

Arjuna chuckled. “Accidents like this rarely happens, you know.”

“Ships are better.” Karna responded. Because ships won’t crash. Plus he had ridden ships a lot. Back then, everything was transported with the sea route.

“But ships sunk as well,” Arjuna said. Karna’s lack of understanding of modern technology was funny at times. Well, Karna might looked young but he was and old man number wise. He was born on the mid 1700s and things were so different from now. “And statistically, they sunk many more times than air plane crash.”

Karna raised his brows. He didn’t know that. “But planes are more dangerous. You’ll die if it crash,” he said as he looked at Arjuna. “Also there’s lifeboats.”

Arjuna returned to his screen and clicked on buttons as he kept talking to Karna. Multitasking brain was the perks of the youngsters. Older people had problem with it. “Do you want to try a plane ride?” Arjuna was sure Karna would say no. 

“No,” Karna said as he moved and laid on his side, changing position for the comfort of his back. “That’s dangerous.” 

Arjuna laughed lighty. “That makes you sound very old,” He said, teasing his big mate. “Oh, but you’re actually an old man.”

Karna wasn’t that pleased with that. He knew he was old compared to this 28-years-old Arjuna. If it was someone else, he would acknowlegde it, but being called old by Arjuna, it made him a little uneasy. “I’m... not that old...”

“Being old won’t lessen my love for you,” Arjuna said. He had read Karna’s thought like a book. “You’re good this way.”

Karna blushed on that words. Because that words totally hit his heart. “If I learn how to use that small electric boxes, will I look younger?” Somehow after thinking about this, Karna wanted to look younger to suit Arjuna’s age. But then Karna remembered how bad he was with machines. He didn’t know how to operate microwaves and 9-years-old Arjuna had to teach him repeatly. “...I’m stupid though, I don’t think I will be able to use them.”

“You’re just not good with technology, doesn’t mean you’re stupid. You’re not born in this age. There’s no need to force it.” It was true. Arjuna meant his words. Karna was smart enough to mingle in human society and he was able to imitate them. Knowing what to do just by watching. He also learnt how to cook which was an alien for someone who was born a vampire. Karna was smart in his own ways.

But Arjuna might think twice before introducing Karna to smartphones because he was sure Karna would be asking the whole time. Plus, Arjuna felt Karna would easily fell into scams. Also, Arjuna was holding his laugh when he heard Karna said ‘small electric boxes’.

Karna looked back to the TV. And then to the clock above it. He got up slowly after he turned off the TV. “It’s time to feed the cats,” he said and he straigthen his body as he held onto the walls.

“If you need help, call me.” 

Karna nodded and smiled. “Understood.” He answered with his usual tone. Then he went behind to grab the catfeed. His every steps were so slow. He was trying to preserve energy. Arjuna didn’t look at him but his ears followed him the whole time.

Karna opened the door and the cats were already on stand-by. They all meowed so happily when they saw Karna and he was also happy to see his little friends. 

Karna closed the door and moved a few steps to the right. He rested his back on the wall and slowly bent down.

He put down the bowl and the cats swarmed onto it. Karna watched them eat. And one of the cats climbed onto him instead of eating.

Karna picked that cat up and looked at it. The white and brown patterned cat’s big eyes were so cute. Karna stared at it and it stared back. “Meow,” Karna randomly made the sound of cat as if he was talking to the cat.

And instead of the cat reacting, Karna heard a thud from inside the house. Somehow, Arjuna knocked his knees on the table. 

Arjuna didn’t like cats. Because he always had a feeling that the cats were his competition. But hell, that ‘meow’ Karna just made, Arjuna would want to hear that once again.

_Ahh, that sounded just too cute. Thank you, cats._

Karna would like to stick longer but it was better if he went inside now before the cats finished eating. Or else they would climb on him as well. He threw away the one and went inside. 

Karna closed the door and looked at Arjuna. His face was a bit red. He went to Arjuna and sat next to him. He held on Arjuna’s shoulder as support as he sat down.

Arjuna could hear it that Karna was being breatheless for a moment after he sat down. That was twenty-two steps. Then, Karna hugged him as he buried his face to Arjuna’s shoulder. 

Arjuna snorted lightly. Karna was resting on him and that was nice. Arjuna loved it when Karna relied on him for small things like this. 

But, there was a surprise. Karna raised his head and stared to Arjuna. He stared back. “Hm? What’s it?” Arjuna asked.

“Meow,” Karna voiced. With a very straight flat face while the voice sounded very cute.

Arjuna’s face went red again as he closed his eyes. He just wanted to hug Karna as tight as he could for that meow. Arjuna started to imagine how cute Karna would look with a pair of car ears on his head. “That’s... very cute.” Arjuna said he glanced to Karna, still with the red tint on his cheeks.

Karna smirked. “Meow,” he was being a tease.

Arjuna’s heart got pierced with the arrow of cuteness. He grabbed Karna’s back and head. Arjuna embraced him tightly. _That’s too cute! I can’t!_ Arjuna felt as if his heart could melt from that.

Meow!

After Karna went to sleep, Arjuna searched the shops in the internet and secretly bought a pair of cat ears band.


	12. Chapter 12

Year four, month eight. Karna fell at the kitchen two months ago. And since then, he had been in bad shape. The due would be six months to go, and Arjuna really wished it to come soon.

Karna was standing on top of the digital scale. Arjuna wrote down his curent weight right to the three digits after comma. After that, Arjuna would take the size of Karna’s belly. The weight was going down, but the size was getting bigger. This wasn’t supposed to be like this. Arjuna was getting anxious from this.

“Karna,” Arjuna called, Karna was already back into the futon, under the covers. He was woken by Arjuna for this daily check up. “You’ve been sleeping a lot lately,” Arjuna said and Karna opened his eyes slightly and glanced to him. “Are you okay?” 

Karna nodded lightly. “I’m fine...” he said with light voice and he closed his eyes again.

Karna had been sleeping around eight to ten hours a day. Then he would take naps for an hour or two. He seemed tired the whole time and he didn’t even do anything. Arjuna knew what this meant. Vampires often sleep when they were healing. It was to preserve energy and focused all resources on the healing part. Something inside Karna was wrong. And Karna sometimes could be anemic for no reason. 

Arjuna had a guess on this. But if his guess was true, this was simply too terrifying. Added the pain Karna felt all the time, it made sense. It wasn’t just kickes anymore. While the baby still kicked sometimes, Karna felt a constant pain inside. The pain ate him everyday, so much that he got used to it. Karna was healing every moment.

“Arjuna...” Karna called for the name.

“What?” Arjuna tried to be as calm as he could in this situation. If he wasn’t the one being strong, who would? Karna certainly couldn’t keep it up. He was ill. 

“I’m cold,” Karna said as he looked to Arjuna. Even though he already had the cover and two blankets on top of it, he was still cold.

“Sorry, we’re out of blankets,” Arjuna said as he touched Karna’s cheek. He was cold. “I can warm some blood for you if you want.” 

Karna didn’t reply, he nodded. Arjuna then went to do it. Karna’s daily intake, 3,5 liter. And Arjuna believed this wasn’t enough. Karna’s condition was the prove for it. 

Arjuna came back to the room and Karna slowly sat up. He took the bottle and put it in his chest to warm himself. It was very nice. He opened the cap and slowly drank the content. He didn’t gulped it in one go like he usually did. It took two minutes to finish it.

“Do you want a bath?” Arjuna asked as he took the bottle and put it aside. 

Karna nodded and smiled a little. Arjuna had been pampering him a lot ever since his condition got worse. “Thank you.” Karna thanked.

Arjuna was relieved. Karna seemed a little bit better now. And that proven Arjuna’s thought from earlier. He had to add more quota per day. “I’ll go fill the tub. I’ll call you when it’s ready.” Arjuna said and he went to the bathroom.

The sudden surge of pain made Karna cringe. He gritted his teeth as he held onto the round stomach. This had been daily occurances. Once to three times a day. But it hurts too much. Cold sweat were forming on Karna’s forehead. 

Arjuna returned to the room as he saw Karna holding on his belly and frowned in pain. He was breathless and cold sweat were dripping from his face. There wasn’t anything he could do aside from watching. Karna was so much in pain, yet there was nothing Arjuna could do except for the comforting words and little things. “The tub is filled, do you want to go in?” He asked after Karna’s pain was lessened.

It was so painful that Karna didn’t even notice Arjuna was there. He felt bad for making him watch. “Ah.” Karna confirmed and Arjuna went to him, helping him up. 

Karna could still walk. Though, not for much. Arjuna was right on his side just to safeguard. Because Karna had a few sudden dizziness in this week. If he wasn’t sitting down or laying, he might fell.

Karna undressed and entered the tub. The warm water felt very nice on his skin. He splashed some onto his face. Arjuna put down the toilet cap and sat on it as he watched Karna. After Karna fell, he had been monitoring him closely. “How are you feeling?” Arjuna asked.

“I’m okay,” Karna answered as he laid his back on the tub and relaxed himself. “Sorry for making you worry.”

Arjuna got up. “Please call me when you want to get out,” Arjuna said as he checked on Karna once more. “Don’t get up from the tub by yourself, get it?” Arjuna looked at Karna as he waited for the response.

“Understood.” Karna gave his usual answer. Arjuna left the door open as he walk away. He had been leaving the doors open just to listen more clearly. Even though he could do it just fine with the doors closed.

To be honest, this condition was straining. For Karna, it was painful. For Arjuna, it was stressful. Arjuna was doing his usual stuff, but his ears and focus were to Karna. He kept worrying for Karna. Even though he had told Karna to call him when he was done, Arjuna couldn’t help but to walk to the bathroom and check on him. He did it a few times, back and forth.

Karna stayed on the tub for 40-minutes before he called for Arjuna. “You’re done?” Arjuna asked as he heard the call.

“Ah,” Karna nodded.

Arjuna grabbed the towel and hung in his arm as he helped Karna up. Karna got out from the tub and took the towel, he dried himself as Arjuna grabbed Karna’s clothes. He dressed up by himself. 

“Do you want to go back to sleep?” Arjuna asked as he hold on Karna’s arm. It was getting thinner.

“I’m not sleepy,” Karna said as he gave a small smile. “I want to watch something.” Arjuna nodded and led him to the living room. 

After Karna had sat down, Arjuna went to grab some more blood. “Drink this.” Arjuna said as he put the glass on the table.

“I just had one earlier.” Karna said as he looked to the red liquid. He gulped. He wanted to drink that thing, but he restrained himself. Karna realized it himself that he had been consuming too much. 

“You should take more,” Arjuna insisted as he handed the glass to Karna. “Your body needs more,” Arjuna smiled a bit when Karna took the glass. “There’s no need to restraint yourself, as long as you get better, that’s all.” 

Karna snorted lightly as a yes. He took the glass and drank it. Karna didn’t told Arjuna, but he had been hungry most of the time. Karna chose to limit his own intake because he didn’t want to cause inconvineince. Arjuna had done so much. Karna didn’t know what to say to express his immense thank you. 

Arjuna listened closely to the heartbeats. Karna’s beat was getting slower, but it was still consistent. It was like animals on hibernation. Lower heartbeat rates, long hours of sleeping, the difference was, the life inside Karna wasn’t sleeping. 

Another sudden pain emerged. Karna closed his eyes as he withstand the feeling. Ah, Karna remembered how painful it was when he fell. This pain couldn’t rival that night. Karna laid down, he didn’t even bother with the TV or cushions anymore. He was too lazy to grab those because he would need to sit up again.

Arjuna grabbed the cushion, he raised Karna’s head gently and put the cushion behind the head. And then he put the remote on his side. After that, Arjuna put his hand on Karna’s forehead. Checking the temperature. Karna was a bit cold, maybe three degrees below normal rate. But that was expected from the lower heartbeat rate. “You sure you don’t want to go to bed?” 

Instead of replying, somehow, Karna chuckled. He seemed having fun, which confused Arjuna. _Did the pain made him weird?_ “No,” Karna said as soon as he stopped his laugh. “I remembered, I used to touch you like that when you were sick.”

He was talking about Arjuna when he was a child. Arjuna had gotten sick a few times. He had yearly heatstroke fever. At first, Karna was very scared. He thought Arjuna was dying because he was hot and unable to wake up. Just like Karna’s fosters parents before they die. Karna stayed awake for days just to take care of Arjuna. “You thought I was dying,” Arjuna laughed as well. “Even though it was just a normal cold.”

“Humans can die from cold,” Karna paused a moment as he glanced outside the window. “...my parents did” 

Arjuna raised his brows. Karna had never talked about this before. Karna rarely talked about his past. It was Arjuna who always talked about his parents and brothers. But somehow, Arjuna didn’t feel weird with Karna’s parents were humans. It explained a lot why he respected humans so much. “What kind of people were they?” Arjuna asked as he put a blanket on Karna.

“My mother was a kind person, she made me a lot of clothes and she didn’t get angry when I bite on her,” Karna felt so bad because he often bite on her all the time. Because the lived in the forest and they were alone. “Though, sometimes she would scold me for biting too much,” Karna was once a child as well, there were times when he couldn’t control his bloodlust. 

It was because of her, that Karna wanted to make clothes. Because he remembered she made his.

His mother loved him despite of Karna was a monster. Karna also remembered the many times he had seen a mother’s sacrifice. Like long time ago, when the ship Karna was on was sinking and the lifeboats were filled with the rich people, men and women. There was a mother who just threw her two children to the boat, while she herself stayed behind. “Mothers are amazing, aren’t they?”

“You’re one as well,” Arjuna said as he smiled and brushed his fingers on Karna’s hair. “And you’re pretty amazing yourself.”

Karna pushed himself into sitting position. Arjuna had his hand on Karna’s back as support. Then, Karna circled his arms on Arjuna and pulled him close. The embrace was warm and Karna buried his face onto Arjuna’s neck.

Karna was still clingy as ever. They stayed like that for minutes as they hugged.

_Being loved is a great feeling._


End file.
